CMC75 Moments: 1978 Athenas XC Takes SCIAC Crown in Second Varsity Season

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1978 Women's Cross Country Wins First Women's SCIAC Title

Just two years into the program's existence, the CMS women's cross country team had the honor of winning the first SCIAC title for the Athena half of the athletic department following the introduction of women's sports in 1976. After a third-place finish in the program's debut year of 1977, CMS was able to go 5-0 in the regular season in SCIAC duals and end with a 9-1 conference record after the championship meet to bring home the first Athena trophy with 10 points, ahead of Occidental with 9 and Pomona-Pitzer with 8, with a one-point win over the Sagehens in the postseason meet providing the difference for the narrow margin of victory.

The addition of Scripps into the athletics umbrella paid immediate dividends in cross country with seven of the ten Athenas coming from Claremont McKenna's neighbors. Mary Tracey of Claremont McKenna was the top CMS individual finisher at the conference meet, finishing second, while Jeana West and Carol Patejdl of Scripps were also in the top 10 to earn all-league honors.

The SCIAC title capped off a big calendar year for West, who also became the first SCIAC Track and Field Champion for the Athenas in the fall of 1978, capturing the title in the one-mile run. She joined swimmers Shannon Daley and Kristina Albrecht as the first female student-athletes to win individual league titles in the first two years of the Athenas. 

Tracey would go on to become the program's first AIAW All-American as a senior in 1980, the first for a CMS woman in any sport, while leading the Athenas to their second SCIAC title in a three-year span. Tracey and West would also become the first female student-athletes to earn CMS Hall of Fame honors, with Tracey inducted in 1992 in the second Hall of Fame class, and West following a year later. Tracey would keep competing in distance events well after her 1981 graduation, winning the Long Beach Marathon in 1986 in 2:48.01, representing the United States in Croatia at the World University Games in 1987, and qualifying for the United States Olympic Trials in the Marathon in 1988.

Mary Tracey: 

As a team, we were thrilled and proud to be the first conference champions for the women's athletic program. In hindsight, we were trailblazers for all the women's teams to follow at CMS but at the time we were inexperienced competitors who just enjoyed being good at what we did, had a lot of fun as a team and felt fortunate to come out on top. We were grateful to the CMS program for its support and the opportunities afforded to us.  

1978 Women's Cross Country Roster
Head Coach: Sirkka Williams
Ada Anderson (Scripps)
Kathleen Evans (CMC)
Caroline Kurtz (Scripps)
Carol Patejdl (Scripps)
Beth Ann Schwabacher (Scripps)
Jennifer Rau (Scripps)
Mary Tracey (CMC)
Rebecca Venture (Scripps)
Kehau Wall (CMC)
Jeana West (Scripps)